Training for

Cardiovascular
Fitness
Cardiovascular (aerobic)
exercise:
 Increases your energy and stamina
 Helps control blood pressure
 Improves your blood lipid profile
(cholesterol)
 Helps you burn extra calories to maintain
an ideal weight.
Aerobic power helps athletes sustain
challenging exercise intensity for an
extended period. When fatigue sets in,
movements become less fluid and efficient,
increasing the risk of errors and injuries.
What kind of exercise will most
improve my cardiovascular
fitness?
 involves the large muscles of the body
(especially the legs)
 is rhythmic and continuous in nature (as
opposed to stop-and-start)
 challenges your heart and lungs to work
harder.
Activities like walking, jogging, running, cycling,
swimming, aerobics, rowing, stair climbing, hiking,
cross country skiing, and many types of dancing are
pure aerobic activities.
Athletes typically use three training methods to
improve their cardiovascular fitness:
• slow to moderate-intensity distance training
• moderate to high-intensity interval training • high-
intensity continuous exercise.
What’s the best type of
cardiovascular exercise?
The best type of cardiovascular
exercise is any exercise you enjoy and will
continue to do, considering personal
preferences, health, and fitness status.
How long should my workout be?
 Cardiovascular training requires a minimum of
30 minutes, 3 times a week, for 8 to 12 weeks, to
guarantee increased aerobic capacity.
 Athletes utilizing high-intensity continuous
training to increase their lactate threshold should
exercise for 25 to 50 minutes, depending on their
level of fitness.
 Interval training to improve aerobic power
should involve low or high-intensity intervals of at
least 60 to 90 seconds duration, with 1 to 2
minutes recovery in between intervals.
How many days each week should
I exercise?
 Aerobic training 3 to 5 days per week improves
cardiovascular fitness, and performing a high-
impact activity more than 5 days a week increases
the risk of injury.
 Training just 2 days a week helps maintain aerobic
fitness, and high-intensity interval training should
be done no more than once or twice a week after
establishing a good base of cardiovascular fitness.
How hard should I push myself?
 Intensity of exercise should be slightly higher than
normal exertion level, measured by pulse or heart
rate .
 Use percentages of HRmax to determine training
pace based on fitness goals and estimated HRmax .
 Listen to your body and adjust intensity or stop if
feeling unwell.
How do I know when it’s o.k. to
add more time or distance?
 Increase by no more than 10-20% each
week .
 Start slowly, even if you feel you could
progress faster .
 Your muscles and joints adapt more slowly
than your heart and lungs, so be patient.
What about warm-up and cool
down?
 Warm-up makes your workout feel smoother,
prevents injuries, and helps your body move
efficiently from a low to high metabolic state.
 Cool-down is a gradual reduction in the
intensity of your activity. This helps bring
blood that has been sent to the working
muscles back into normal circulation.
THE
END